


puzzle pieces

by xkailajayx



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix It Fic, M/M, Multi, Post Season 1
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-19
Packaged: 2019-02-14 02:38:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12998001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xkailajayx/pseuds/xkailajayx
Summary: Mick isn't crazy, Ray just wants to help, and Len is stranded in time.((Fix it fic for post season 1. Eventual ColdAtomWave. Past-and-eventual-Coldwave.))





	1. first pieces

Mick almost walked into a wall the first time it happened. The sight of a phantom fur hood, of closely cropped greying hair, of the dark blue coat that he’d become accustomed to over the last few years. Len had always been well dressed, but not often so… costumed. But he couldn’t really be seeing it, could he? Couldn’t really be seeing a dead man walk through the corridors of the Waverider. Even he hadn't hit his head enough times for that. He shook his head, almost a full body shiver, and went to get a beer. It was hard to process, and harder still to even think it was important enough to bring up to anyone, so the words went unsaid, and Mick pretended it hadn’t happened.

The second time it happened, he’d been sat with Sara, only half paying attention as she talked out the plan for what they were doing next. It wasn’t his job to listen- not in the planning stages. It had been the same with Len, he’d been thinking, that they both liked having a warm body there to just talk at while they figured things out in their own minds, when he saw the same blue eyes he’d spent thirty years of his life knowing better than he knew his own. Sara didn’t notice that he was distracted- too into her own ideas- as he stared, a little gormless, as Len just… walked past. Silent, a little see through, and just… there. He vanished through the door, and Mick didn’t see him for another few days. Sara eventually noticed and frowned, asking if he’d seen a ghost. Mick laughed, bright and shocked, and shook his head. Twice wasn’t enough to mention, and she’d just bench him if he did. 

He thought it was just a trick of the eye. Mourning, maybe. The Professor, Sara, Ray- everyone had tried to talk to him about it, about losing his partner, losing the man he’d stood next to for well over half his life. Mick wasn’t the kind of guy to do feelings, aside from anger and betrayal it seemed, but he had moments where he looked to his side and still expected to see his _ partner _ . The only things he had left of him were the gun, left safe in his bunk, and his ring, hanging heavy on a chain around his neck. The parka was left hanging in Len’s room on the ship- a room that was left as almost a memorial to the man, on pain of Mick  _ roasting  _ whoever touched it. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to walk into it, he’d never been in without Len right there with him before, without Len waiting for him, sitting on the bed with one leg hanging off, or both legs up against the wall and his head dangling off the bed- the man didn’t know how to sit properly, and it drove Mick  _ insane _ sometimes- and even though his own, smaller room only had a bench press in it he found the hard, barely padded surface a more palatable thought than sleeping alone in the bed he’d once shared with his partner.

The third time that the ghost appeared, he was walking down the corridor towards the jumpship. He’d been looking for Jax- the reasons escaped him the moment he saw the navy coat, the boots marching along the metal floor, the long arms swaying slightly. Mick couldn’t help but follow, on instinct, towards the ship. The form disappeared through the door, and Mick opened the jumpship to see… nothing.

But a plot charted for the Vanishing Point.

* * *

Ray hadn’t seen the ghosts. That was a pain reserved, in that moment, only for Mick. But he had noticed something was up with his new buddy. The way he’d been weirdly distant- even for him? And how he kept staring off into space… it was odd, and Ray was determined to find out why- and to fix it. Mick had gotten good at avoiding him, and he figured it had to mostly be down to mourning- he knew what he’d been like after Anna, and Mick and Len had been together for  _ thirty years _ \- even if they said they weren’t like that, he’d seen Mick walking into Len’s room. It wasn’t like they’d been particularly sneaky about it.

So when he saw Mick pause in the hallways, and then take off at the fastest walk Ray had ever seen Mick go, he followed quickly behind. He frowned as he saw him walk into the jumpship, but he followed in there too- and then the doors shut hard behind him, and they were taking off.

“Uh, Mick, buddy? Where are we going?” He asked, eyes a little wider than normal as the ship flew through time and space, colours blasting past the windows. The comms system wasn’t working- Jax’s latest project- so the Waverider couldn’t even get through to them. Mick spun round from the console and glared at him, reaching for his hip and where his heat gun wasn’t, before dropping his hands again.

“Going looking for Snart.” He said with a growl, moving to sit behind the console properly. The jumpship couldn’t go as far, or as fast, as the Waverider- but at least the jumps were a little more comfortable.

“... Leonard is dead, Mick-” Ray replied, moving to sit too, confused and worried that Mick might… actually be losing it.

“I know that.” Mick snapped, turning to look at him. “But I’ve just got this- feeling.” He shrugged, and sat back, hands curled behind his head. Ray hummed softly, and nodded a little. He’d felt like Anna would be right next to him, for months after she was gone- and he still had nightmares of the moment she died.

“Mick, it’s very important to grieve properly, and if going back to the Vanishing Point is a part of that for you, then I’m glad I’m here.” He hummed softly, and nodded again. “Just in case you need me.” 

Ray was fairly sure Mick would never admit to needing anyone else- except, perhaps, Leonard Snart- but he knew, deep down, somewhere behind the gruff and the grumble, that Mick cared about his team, and that his companionship would mean something to him. And it wasn’t like he could throw him off the jumpship, anyway.

* * *

 

It only took about an hour to get to the Vanishing Point. Mick wasn’t sure where he was going, not really, not until they landed and he felt… a tug. A pull towards something, deep in the heart of the ruined satellite that he had spent what felt like hundreds of years being pulled apart and put back together in. He didn’t know what he was following, not exactly, but he knew he had to follow it. That he had to follow Len. He owed that much to him, at least.

The two of them found their way slowly through the broken place until they came to the Oculus, more of a crater now, an old, abandoned place that hadn’t changed one bit in the weeks they’d been gone. There wasn’t anything left here, now, just rubble and memories-

And a strange, pale form stood in the middle, the last place Mick had seen Len alive. The place Mick had been willing to die to save Ray- the place Ray had been willing to die to save everyone else. The form… flickered, and Mick almost ran over to see what it was. He was usually more reticent to get involved in weird stuff, preferring burning buildings and shooting first, asking questions later.

But the form looked like  _ Len _ , and he couldn’t help himself.

The times Mick had seen the ghostly figure, he’d not heard a voice. But he heard one this time, and the only reason he didn’t think he was insane was that Ray heard it too, could see Len too. Maybe it wasn’t so terrible that the puppy had stowed away.

 

“Lisa, come on. I won’t be gone long."

 

“... what?” Mick was confused, and Ray just as much so. They both knew Lisa’s name, and Mick had seen her as the little sister he’d never really wanted, but… after all that, after Mick’s hallucinations and their journey here… why would that be the message left behind?

“Wait. I remember this.” Mick frowned deeply, shaking his head a little. “Before we got on the ship, wayback at the beginning… he dragged me along and we told Lis we were going, she was so mad.” He huffed a breath, taking a step back. “She came round in the end. She made me promise to bring him back safe.”

“Well, maybe we have to go back there. This could be a clue, we don’t know how the Oculus exploding with him in the heart of it worked.” Ray suggested, reaching out to touch Mick’s shoulder before thinking better of it and pulling back. “This isn’t the end of the trail, Mick. Maybe… maybe you’re right, and he’s still alive, somewhere.”

Mick scoffed, but after a moment, he shook his head and turned.

“Been putting off telling her, anyway. I should go, do that.” He said, sad and angry and wanting to set something on fire. “I can drop you back on the ship-”

“Nope, buddy, we’re going to get through this together. And get to the bottom of this, okay?” Ray said, smiling a little at him and starting the walk back to the jumpship. “We’ll figure out what this means.”

It only took another three hours, and they were in 2016. 

It didn’t take long for Mick to feel another pull, except this time- Ray felt it too.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mick and Ray find their way to 2016 and Central City, where they run into some 'friends'.

They’d barely made it off the ship when a red blur flew past them. They both knew the Flash- in… different capacities, but as the Legends they weren’t exactly on the worst terms with him. Mick, at least, hadn’t caused any trouble in central in a few months, as they’d found themselves drawn to 2016 less than a year since they’d left to help Rip deal with Savage. The pull, strangely, moved with the Flash- and it was unpleasantly disconcerting as the gentle tug at their navels moved so quickly past them. The next ghost- the next clue, the next whatever- it was… in Barry?

Mick was less than impressed, to say the very least. The idea that the man Len had spent months obsessing over, ignoring their normal work for more complicated heists, just to get his attention? It had been frustrating at the time, and now Mick had to contend with the fact the metahuman was an important part of the puzzle that could lead them to Len? He didn’t like it.

Ray, on the other hand, was just as bright and enthusiastic about it as he was everything. This was a chance, a chance that Len, someone he’d gotten close to over their time on the Waverider- especially when Mick had been… otherwise engaged- might still be alive? After seemingly giving his life for the team? After  _ Mick _ of all people had been willing to give his life for him? It was such a fantastic possibility, and while it didn’t make any sense right now, Ray was sure he’d be able to figure it out over time. They just needed to figure out what it all really meant.

And Ray was always happy to see Barry, of course.

Mick hadn’t actually been to STAR Labs yet, the few times Leonard had been he’d either gone alone or taken Lisa instead- and honestly, he’d only found out Barry’s identity recently. He wasn’t looking forwards to the idea of having to go grovelling to two people he’d kidnapped- and one he’d repeatedly tried to kill- to get Len back, but he’d come this far. There wasn’t much other choice.

* * *

 

Mick felt naked, standing in the lab while Ray explained, without his gun, without Len, without even Sara there to tug on his elbow when he got too antsy. Watching Snow and Ramon glare at him while Ray spoke, letting them judge him, letting them stare at him like he was some kind of zoo animal- he hated it. He started counting in his head, drifting off while they spoke until Cisco spoke up.

“So, what you’re telling us- and actually expecting us to believe that’s why you’re here- is that Leonard Snart, infamous master criminal, who- along with your new friend, Mick Rory- has kidnapped, tortured, stolen from, and attempted to kill us-” Cisco said, eyebrows raised, “Is possibly still alive, even though we didn’t know he was dead, after being blown up in the middle of a time-deadzone, to defeat evil Time Masters- which, you know, kind of close to the Time Lords, that’s all kindsa copywrited- because you went back to where he blew up and saw a ghost. Like a Force ghost. And you figured you’d come back here because Rory hasn’t told Lisa that he’s ‘dead’ yet, and now you want to go inside Barry. Worst possible phrasing ever, by the way.”

“Well, not inside him, exactly,” Ray said, pulling out the puppy-dog face that Mick was starting to get endeared to- not that he’d ever admit it. “We got the sense that- there was some kind of pull, that Mick felt, that took us to the ruins of the Oculus. And then when we got here, to Central City in this time, we both felt that pull- but to Barry.” 

Neither Snow nor Ramon looked like they were buying it, Mick noted. The Flash still hadn’t turned up, there was an older guy glaring at them, it was all a little strange. He just wanted to get on with it, to figure out where Len was and bring him home. The fact that home wasn’t Central City anymore, that it was a weird time-travelling spaceship, was something he was just point blank ignoring for the time being.

“Why should we help you?” Caitlin’s voice cut through Mick’s thoughts, the question clearly directed straight at him. Mick took a breath, bit back the drawling sarcastic response he wanted to say, and shrugged a little.

“We- me and Snart- we’re not heroes. Never will be, never wanted to be, never could be. But we said yes to helping Rip with the whole time thing. I’ve been through hell to take down Savage, I… did some shit I’m not proud of, and you know me. I don’t do shame.” He shrugged again. “I’m not who I was when I was in Central last. I’m better than that guy, and Len’s better than he was too. I just want my friend back.”

At those last words, it seemed like Cisco and Caitlin finally warmed up to him, a little. He knew they’d never be friends, and he didn’t want to be. He was barely tolerant of the friends he had made on the ship. But he needed these two to agree to let them get to the Flash- and the niggling pull that he’d had since they’d time jumped. It wasn’t getting better or worse, the time they were here. It wasn’t like whatever it was was fading, or angry, or actually pulling them. It was just… there. 

There, like Len had always been. Sure, they hadn’t spent every moment of the last thirty years together. They’d had long tracks apart, the longest being three years back in their twenties, but he knew if he’d called on the younger man he would have been there, in time. The same went the other way, and if Len had ever needed Mick… well, it’d come down to it, when they’d been asked onto the Waverider. Mick would never have gone if it hadn’t been for Len, but he wasn’t about to let his best friend, his soulmate, go on the adventure of his life without him. They’d gone through so much together, and Len had sometimes just… looked after him. He’d never admit needing it, never admit that he struggled with things, but the smoke and the fire and the pain he’d been through, before they’d even gotten on the ship, had left him stumbling through words, left him more deranged and delusional than he was now.

It was strange. Over a hundred years of torture and reprogramming had left him changed, deep down, and he wasn’t sure if he was even the same person now he’d broken free of them. He had more control, more care for those around him. He still needed fire, still had his moments of violence and vulgarity… but he wasn’t who he’d been, the last time he’d been in Central. Part of that was down to the Legend’s influence, of watching Len change and grow, but he knew some of it came down to what the Time Pigs had done to his brain.

* * *

 

They were just sitting and waiting now. Turned out that being the fastest man alive didn’t stop you from being late, though Ray had already been expecting that. It was tense, and uncomfortable- though, that was to be expected, too. He’d not known all the ins and outs of what Mick had done when he’d been in Central, though he had known he wasn’t a nice man. He was a good man, now, but he still wasn’t very nice. But that was just part of Mick’s charm, after all, and Ray wasn’t about to try and change him. He was helpful, in his way, and… well. Ray would probably never get over the fact he’d been willing to die for him.

His thoughts were cut short as a blur sped into the lab, throwing all the paperwork that Team Flash had left lying around the room into the air. Ray was still confused as to why they didn’t just go paperless- it wasn’t like they had a lack of computers. He stood and smiled, shaking Barry’s slightly confused hand as he gestured vaguely at Mick.

“So, Cisco told you what we’re here for?” He asked, smile a little hysterical now. He was so hopeful, so desperate to fix this, to make sure Mick got Len back even if that meant he’d lose the chance to have a partner, to be someone’s  _ best friend _ . Barry nodded, and took a step back and leaned against a counter.

“You have a- feeling that there’s some kind of, time- ghost? In me?” He queried, tugging his cowl off. 

“Saw one at the Vanishing Point. Gave us the clue to come here.” Mick interrupted, sick of sitting quietly while the ‘grown ups’- all younger than him- spoke. “Then we got the feeling that there’s something in you. About you? Don’t know. Only know it’s got something to do with Len.”

Barry took a moment, watching Mick and Ray carefully. When Rip had pulled Mick and Len from Central City, they’d been on shaky but decent ground- no killing, and when they did commit crimes they almost turned it into a game, the thrill of the chase. It was enjoyable enough, and no one got hurt. Well, not many people got hurt. And certainly not seriously. If what Ray was saying turned out to be true… then Len had continued on his path to  _ goodness _ .

“Okay. So, what do we think we could- huh.” Barry stopped talking, frowning and running a hand through his hair. “I saw something. When I was running.” He hummed softly, moving to get a sketchbook and drawing out something- a bar, called Saints and Sinners. A bar he knew, in passing- from tracking down Len. “There was a weird- glow, but I thought it was just a trick of the light. While I was running. I’m not sure, I can’t tell you what it was, but. I only saw it when I was running pretty fast.”

“Then I guess we’d better go to my bar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So originally I had planned for this chapter to be the whole contained 2016 thing, where they found the second ghost and got ready to move on, but then introspection got away from me and I figured it would be better to get a slightly different, slightly shorter chapter out than sit on a double one until after Christmas. Hope people enjoy!


End file.
